1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to semiconductor processing, and more particularly, to an enclosure transportable on a vehicle, which may be used for demonstrations of processing operations in a clean room environment or as a temporary clean room at selected locations.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the semiconductor industry and other high technology industries rapidly grow, so does the need for xe2x80x9cclean roomxe2x80x9d space. Clean rooms are enclosed work areas in which the environment is strictly controlled for temperature, pressure, humidity, and particulate level. Most clean rooms are built on-site or are prefabricated for installation on-site. The conventional footprint and power consumption requirements for most clean rooms used in the semiconductor industry are too large to permit economic portability of fully-functional clean rooms. For example, semiconductor processes can require large amounts of circulating air, cooling water, and process gases. Typically, circulating these substances requires several pumps and large amounts of power. A conventional semiconductor clean room can use between three and six pumps, can require about 250 KW of power, can use up to 30 gallons per minute of cooling water, and can use many process gases, some of which are toxic and/or flammable. These requirements have made a fully-functional, permanently-mobile clean room, transported by a vehicle, cost and size prohibitive.
For these reasons, what is needed is a fully contained, transportable clean room which is space and energy-efficient for on-site semiconductor processing demonstrations as well as for providing temporary contamination-free workspace.
The present invention provides a system and method for using a portable enclosure system for conducting operations and/or demonstrations of semiconductor processes at selected locations. The portable enclosure system includes an environmentally-controlled enclosure, which is self-contained and provides all of the functions and amenities of a conventional clean room. Advantageously, the environmentally-controlled enclosure can be transported substantially fully operational, from a first location, typically the assembly site, to a second location, typically a demonstration or work site.
The environmentally-controlled enclosure system includes a vehicle for transporting an enclosure. Once the enclosure arrives at a demonstration or work site, it can be fully operational with minimal or no set-up required. In another embodiment, the environmental enclosure system includes a viewing mechanism, which allows for visual inspection of the internal clean room portion of the enclosure from outside of the controlled environment. Thus, operational demonstrations of processing equipment performance can be viewed from outside of the enclosure.
In one aspect of the present invention, a portable enclosure system is provided which includes an environmentally-controlled enclosure. The environmentally-controlled enclosure defines a workspace for conducting semiconductor wafer processing operations. The environmentally-controlled enclosure is transported on a vehicle from a first location to a second location.
In another aspect of the present invention, a clean room transportation system is provided. The system includes an environmentally-controlled enclosure defining a workspace, and including a semiconductor processing tool. A viewing mechanism is formed on a side wall of the environmentally-controlled enclosure, which allows visual access to the workspace from outside of the environmentally-controlled enclosure. The system also includes a vehicle for transporting the environmentally-controlled enclosure from a first location to a second location.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for providing an environmentally-controlled enclosure system at any selected location. The method includes providing an environmentally-controlled enclosure, which defines a workspace having a semiconductor processing tool, and transporting the environmentally-controlled enclosure from a first location to a second location.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for demonstrating a semiconductor processing tool at any selected location. The method includes providing an environmentally-controlled enclosure, which defines a workspace having a semiconductor processing tool; transporting the environmentally-controlled enclosure from a first location to a second location; and viewing the workspace through a viewing mechanism from a position outside of the environmentally-controlled enclosure.
The portable enclosure system of the present invention is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, easy to transport, and efficient in operation. Additional advantages of the portable clean room include being pre-assembled and pre-tested.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments set forth below taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.